A Day in the Life of a Travel Trainer………The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Intro – 5 to 7 minutes
Good morning (afternoon) – my name is Lisa Womack, and this is my colleague,
Brittany Hoff. We work for MTM, Inc. I have been with MTM for a total of a little over 8 years. I am currently working as the project director for a stand-alone travel training program in Kansas City with the KCATA. Britanny is a travel trainer extraordinaire in DC for WMATA. The travel training/functional assessment side of our company strives to promote independence through public transit.
Our travel training department has bi-weekly meetings to discuss issues, trends and any other topics we feel will help us to continue to improve and grow. One thing that we have learned is that except for other travel trainers, there aren’t a lot of people who can relate to what is happening while we are out in the field. So I decided to make my presentation topic a platform for just that - talking about some of our more interesting situations that happen, and how we handle them. What Brittany and I would like to do is to share some of our stories, and then we would like to hear from two or three of you with some of your most challenging cases, and how you overcame those challenges. We’ve even brought some incentives for you to participate (show candy). My sincere hope is that we can open up future dialogue between all of us across all systems to share and learn from each other.
The other day I was saying to a friend of mine, “Since I’ve been a parent and the older
I get, the more it seems that I am aware of natural and unnatural disasters.” And she replied that she agreed and felt that there were more strange, scary and horrible things in the world now, then when we were younger.
I’m not sure if that’s a true statement or if social media has given us a direct pipeline to see and hear just about anything the second that it happens – and so much happens. From the largest scale tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, bombings, sniper attacks, building collapses, earthquakes – down to the smaller scales – bus/train break downs, a snow covered, un-shoveled bus/train stop when you’re training someone who uses a wheelchair, the “unsavory” type boarding a bus you’re training on….the list goes on and on of things that can be encountered during travel training, or even field and functional assessments.
In your daily lives, when you leave the house to go to work, you have a plan of how you’re getting there, what route you’re going to take, what you’ll do if there’s traffic on that route, what you’ll do if your train/bus is late, what you’re doing for lunch, what time you’re leaving, if you have to get your kids to their baseball game, who will get them if you’re running late – this list also goes on and on. So when we leave the house, we should, out of personal responsibility, have some sort of emergency/disaster/back-up plan in place for ourselves and our loved ones.
The same applies to travel training. If we are doing our jobs, we should be assessing our trainees from the beginning of their abilities to handle unexpected situations and

how that will affect their abilities to use public transit. We should also be teaching all of the things a person needs when they are out and about conducting their daily business. This can be as simple as a water bottle when it’s 134 degrees outside or a coat when it’s -43 degrees, to more important items like supplies if you have to administer an insulin shot, a piece of candy for blood sugar regulation, necessary medications so you don’t miss a dose, a list of emergency contacts, a way to charge an electric mobility device – another list that goes on and on.
And as a travel trainer, out doing “live” trainings, it should be a requirement that we be aware of our company’s safety policy/procedure, and if you have many offices, your area-specific safety policy/procedure. For example, if you have offices in Miami and Omaha, your company plan may be the same, but severe weather may differ with hurricane threats more prominent in Florida and tornado threats more prominent in Omaha. The basis can be the same, but the steps taken to ensure safety will be a little different.
The bottom line is that we need to be as prepared as we can for all of the little and big things that come up when we are out travel training. It is not only just a good practice to ensure that we make it from point A to point B, but it will help our trainees to be successful when they are ready to navigate on their own.
Okay. So I’ve done my duty on speaking about safety policies and procedures. But as you all know, there are a jillion and one things that happen out there that you gracefully move through that can’t possibly be written in a policy. The natural disasters, while they do happen, are thankfully not the norm. But what is the norm, is the reality of dealing with the human population and the colorful personalities we deal with from our trainees to the other passengers on the bus – the good, the bad and the ugly. And the little things that we may not think of and how we handle them when we’re out doing our thing.
So what I’ve done for you is to put together some examples of some “situations” that actually happened, how they were handled well – and we are open to your input on how it may have been better handled. Our hope is that you’ll be a little bit entertained, but also leave here with the idea of improving ways to make the travel training industry, as a whole, a safe and effective environment. We all do what we do for the same reason – try to ensure that everyone has access to be a vital part of their community for whatever their purpose.
With that all being said, let’s move on to our horror – or not so horror – stories….I’d like to start off by asking if any of you would be willing to start off by sharing your story first – please keep them short and simple – at 5 minutes if possible – we’ll be keeping time for you

Our stories
#1
This actually all happened in one travel training session. While working with a young man who had some mild cognitive issues, but did previously utilize the bus, all of this happened in a 2 hour span. On their first of
2 buses, there was an extremely intoxicated man who was also deaf and mute. He fell all over everyone, slammed his head into a window and tried to grab things out of their hands. As they were making the connection to the 2 nd bus, things got more interesting. The bus was crowded and not moving. Soon a road supervisor showed up and they could see him arguing and getting physical with an unsavory type of young man. After that was calmed down, they found out from the driver that the man didn’t have fare and was threatening to kill everyone on the bus. To make matters worse, as they drove off, now pretty late to make their turnaround connection, there was a woman on the bus who suddenly started projectile vomiting – the trainee screamed because he got a bit on his face. The driver had to stop and call for a second bus. The trainer thankfully had some hand sanitizer and Kleenex for her trainee. As the 2 nd bus pulled up, the passengers, including the sick woman, all boarded that bus. She pulled the cord right after the bus took off and proceeded to vomit more – this time outside of the bus. As she tried to re-board, the driver thankfully told her that she would need to wait there for a road supervisor.
When they got to the destination, the trainer took the trainee into a McDonald’s where he could wash up, get something to drink and they sat for a bit to discuss what happened and let him calm down some.
Our stories
#2
What you do when a travel trainee says things that make you feel uncomfortable that don’t necessarily rise to the level of being seriously disruptive. For example, I recently worked with a trainee who kept saying really mean things about women, women with short hair, and the GLBT community. I did decide to challenge him on a couple of stereotypes and told him it made me feel uncomfortable, but mainly I redirected back to the travel training. Another travel trainer said she was asked by a trainee about her religion. She answered questions briefly, but then redirected back to the travel training. Another trainer mentioned a trainee who laughed at another person with a disability. The trainer told her that was not appropriate, and redirected her back to the training.
Our stories
#3
Lost Trainee- I once travel trained a student to get from school to his workplace site (Old Navy). The student had a cognitive disability and did not own a cell phone. This was our first training together. We took 2 buses to get to his work site, we agreed on the time and location we would meet, and then he walked into the store. I went back to my bus stop and waited for a while for the next bus, but soon got a call from his teacher. Apparently she forgot to tell me that today was not a work day; I was just supposed to teach him how to get there and then teach him to come right back. I went back into the store to look for him. No employees had seen him. I searched the store and could not find him, so I called the teacher. She came over to the store and we looked together. Eventually we found him hiding in a corner. He had not talked to any of the workers there.
What could be done with this trainee? Any suggestions from the audience?

Our Stories
#4
Anxiety over Lost Fare Card- I once travel trained a woman who had depression and an anxiety disorder. She lived about a mile from the nearest bus stop. This was our first training. We walked to the bus stop, went over some information, and I handed her the fare card. During the short time we waited for the bus, she lost the farecard. She realized this when we boarded the bus, and ended up experiencing so much anxiety we had to deboard the bus at the next stop. I could not convince her to get back on the bus to go home, so we walked home.
Our Stories
#5
Strange Behavior- I once travel trained a very pleasant young man who has Autism. This was not our first session. Things were going really well. He was pleased with himself. He asked me if he could clap once. I made the mistake of saying yes. I have never heard such a loud sound as he made clapping his hands together once. It was so loud it sounded almost like a gunshot. Before I had the chance to address the behavior, a woman sitting next to us, who was obviously frightened by the sound, scolded him (and me) quite sternly.
Can we ask you for your input on how you would have handled this with your trainee? Anyone??
Our Stories
#6
No Show- I recently worked with a gentleman who lived quite a distance from the nearest bus stop. The road he lived on had no sidewalks and is very dangerous for pedestrians due to the high speed of the traffic. We agreed that his mom would drop him off at the nearby Wal-Mart, where we would meet. I even spoke with mom to confirm. That morning while en route to our meeting location, I called him to confirm again. As I approached our meeting location, he left a message that he was on his way (about a 5 minute drive). I waited and waited. I called him on his cell. No answer. Called him again. No answer. Retrieved a missed message from him, “We do training next week. Okay?” Called him one more time. He had a doctor’s appointment. I had taken transit for 2 ½ hours to meet him! We rescheduled, after my sternly explaining that I needed more than 5 minutes’ notice if he needed to cancel.
Our Stories
#7
Lost key- I once travel trained a gentleman who lived in a group home. He had a cognitive disability and rarely spoke. We met in the early evening and did our trip to his worksite location, then came back.
Everyone in the group home was gone, the house was locked, and he could not find his key. Apparently the neighbor keeps a spare key, so we went to the neighbor’s house. He came out in his boxer shorts and tried to unlock the door for us. The lock had been changed, so the key did not work. I tried to reach the case manager on the cell phone. No answer. Left a message. We went and hung out at McDonalds until the staff person from the group home joined us.

Our Stories
#8
One assessment I had with a woman who was bi-polar and I guess she had stopped taking her medication.
When I initially spoke with her to set up her assessment she seemed very pleasant and cooperative so we set it up 3 days later. On the day of her assessment I called to let her know I was on my way and she had completely forgot about it. She was very upset, irritated, and rude. I was extremely nervous to even go to her house after the way she spoke to me over the phone. I know she really needed her assessment done so I proceeded to be on my way. When I got to her apartment I rang the buzzard and needless to say she didn’t greet me at all. She simply buzzed me in. As I walked up the stairs, the door to her apartment slowly opened… and as the door creeps open a boy who seemed to be no more than 6 or 7 years old peeks his head
out and gives me one of the most frightening looks I have ever seen. Without saying anything he gives me a jester letting me know I could enter. He then runs to what I assume to be his bedroom and slams the door.
As I am standing there so confused the woman comes from out the kitchen with her night gown and bathrobe on with rollers in her hair and a cup of coffee. She sipped from her cup and very rudely said “what do you want!?”… I replied I here to complete your assessment for your medical transportation. She then told me to remain standing because she didn’t know where my *** had been. By then I was offended and uncomfortable but I never stopped pleasantly smiling and being professional. I took out assessment form and her could she verify her address for me. I guess that was the wrong thing to say because she immediately started shouting and screaming. She slammed down her cup of coffee and it flew everywhere… all on my clothes, walls, floor, and table where she was sitting. She then screamed get out of her house because I was unprepared. Of course I got out of there in a hurry.
She ended up calling the quality management department and filing a complaint stating I was rude I didn’t show my badge and I didn’t tell her who I was or wanted. I really couldn’t believe it. The protocol is all members that utilize the service has to have an assessment before trips can be set. Maybe a month later she called back requesting transportation and was told by a CSR that she needed to complete her assessment before any trips can be set. Her information was sent to me and I almost died… No one else was available to do complete her assessment due to travel training and being out of town. So I called her and set up it up again. When I arrived this time she was fully dressed and was very cooperative. We completed her assessment and all was well in the world. Whew….
Our Stories
#9
This is a more personal horror story, as opposed to something that happened bad to one of our clients…
I was on the bus with a trainee in Anacostia, which is a… more diverse part of the city. It was a crowded bus but we found seats in the back of the bus. We weren’t sitting together.
Almost immediately, upon sitting down, other people on the bus were making remarks over there being a white person on the bus and what was a white person doing in their part of the city, taking their jobs, messing up their benefits, etc.
They got a bit more bold after I didn’t react- specifically calling me derogatory names and kind of getting in my face.
I didn’t do anything and I just ignored that it was happening- we just got off the bus when we were planning to. But when we got off the bus, my trainee said, “I’m sorry that they treated you like that.” Which made me feel horrible that he felt that he had to apologize.

Maybe there was a better way to handle that?
Our Stories
#10
I was once working with an individual, teaching him how to travel to and from work, and another young man on the bus tried to sell us electronics. He was obviously selling stolen electronics. We said no thank you, and he moved on. My trainee was un phased by the whole thing (he has very mild cognitive delays, but was more new to public transit and the area). We did discuss that we can’t control everything a person does, but what to do if somebody wouldn’t leave you alone, or if it were a worse situation (move, talk to the driver, talk to customer service or an officer at the station, etc.). I always let people know about the cameras and that their safety is our number one priority, etc.
Unknown to my trainee (and the seller), I put the guy’s number in my phone, as he verbally gave it to another passenger, after that passenger bought a tablet from him. The seller said that he would be at home because was on a tether, and that was his home number. So, I had dispatch pull the tape, and gave the tape and the phone number to public safety (since we are both a department of the city, we are in good communication with them). The guy was arrested at his home with more stolen goods.
Wrap up (Brittany) – end with a joke – 5-7 minutes